PRODUCTION TEAM

PRODUCER - SARA GRENFALL

PRODUCTION CO-ORDINATOR - SASKIA VROMANS

Saskia is a graduate from Charles Sturt University. She has worked behind the scenes for both Theatre and Short Film in a number of roles as Stage Manager, Production Manager, 1st AD, and Production Assistant. Her most recent credits include Night Sky Productions of The Comedy of Errors – Coogee Arts Festival 2007, A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Centennial Park 2006, A Midsummer Night’s Dream– Coogee Arts Festival 2006.

Saskia is delighted in working alongside the creative team that brings you An Italian Straw Hat.

ENGLISH VERSION - MAY-BRIT AKERHOLT

May-Brit Akerholt was Tutor in English at Macquarie University, then Lecturer in Drama and Dramaturg at NIDA. She was Resident Dramaturg at the Sydney Theatre Company for six years, and from 1993 to 2002, Artistic Director of the Australian National Playwrights' Centre, where she ran ten National Playwrights’ Conferences. She was the recipient of a Fellowship from the Theatre Board of Australia Council.

May-Brit  has translated more than 20 plays which have been produced by various theatre companies around the country, including Sydney Theatre Company, Company B Belvoir, State Theatre Company of SA, Anthill, Queensland Theatre Company. She has worked with many of Australia’s leading theatre artists such as Geoffrey Rush, Judy Davis, John Bell, Julia Blake, Gillian Jones, David Wenham, Robyn Nevin, Robert Menzies, John Howard, Kerry Walker, Colin Friels and Jeremy Sims. She is the Norwegian playwright Jon Fosse’s English translator. Two of her translations of Fosse’s plays have been produced in Sydney by East Coast Theatre Company: Mother and Child and Death Variations (with B Sharp).

May-Brit’s numerous publications  include New Stages: Contemporary Theatre in Cambridge Companion to Australian Literature, a book on Patrick White’s drama published by Rodopi, Amsterdam, and several volumes of translations, including two volumes of translations of Jon Fosse’s plays by Oberon Books, London. 

May-Brit has published numerous articles about translation, theatre and writing for performance including New Stages: Contemporary Theatre in Cambridge Companion to Australian Literature. Books include Patrick White's Drama, Rodopi, Amsterdam; two volumes of translations of Ibsen and Strindberg plays: Word for Word, Five Islands Press, Sydney; Jon Fosse, Plays Three, and two translations in Jon Fosse: Plays Four, both published by Oberon Books, London.

DESIGNER - HELEN JACOBS

Helen Jacobs, a north Queenslander at heart, recently graduated from NIDA’s design course. Prior to that she graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in technical production from Queensland University of Technology. She has a background in both Speech and Drama and Art practices. So far this year she has completed the Production and Costume design for Lullaby a short film, and the Costume design for Romeo and Juliet with The Shakespearian Globe Society. As well as working for the Theatre of the Deaf remounting Futures a current touring show and props/costume buying for various productions. She aims to continue working in theatre as well as branching out into event design.

SET DESIGN ASSISTANT - JEREMY HASTINGS

My career in theatre and the arts really starts with the time I spent in Paris, from 1989 to 2004. Various jobs, with a ten year stay in the props department of the Odeon Theatre, a French National Theatre producing new French work and hosting important European productions.

Studies in Visual Arts at the Sorbonne-St Charles, installation and painting shows at La Jeune Peinture, des Parfaits Inconnus, and Menilmontant Portes Ouvertes.Studies in props-making and set decoration at tha CFPTS, Bagnolet (Certificate ), and with Daniel Louradour, scenographer. Since my arrival in Australia, six months work as scenic artist /set finisher on Superman Returns (which he didn’t), props for some musical comedies, and technical work on the Festival of Sydney.

SET BUILDER - TOM BANNERMAN

Tom Bannerman has built sets for many years.  His interest in set-building developed from an extensive practice in scenography, for which he is better-known in Sydney.  Tom has a MA in Theatre Studies and teaches Visual Arts.  Recent works include A View from a Bridge (Ensemble Theatre), Tango Masculino and The Crucible (New Theatre), and HurlyBurly and The Night Herron (Stablemates).

COSTUME DESIGN - KATJA HANDT

Katja started out as a dressmaker and assistant to painter/sculpturor Yael Niemeyer in Germany before graduating in BA (Hon)Theatre Design at Central Saint Martin's College in London in 1999. In London design credits include the British premieres of Sympathetic Magic (Steam Industry/ Finborough) and Spiel-Satz-Tod (Three Mills Island Studios). She also worked as a scenic assistant on a number of productions for the National Theatre,  the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Almeida Theatre.

Since moving to Sydney in 2002 she has been designing  set and costumes for Redheads (Old Fitzroy), The Golden Ass (B-Sharp), The Young Tycoons (Darlinghurst Theatre), A Family Affair (B-Sharp), Crescent Moon, Yellow Star (Downstairs Belvoir),Rhinoceros (B-Sharp), Fidelity (TRS/ Old Fitzroy), TheFireraisers (Old Fitzroy), Little Malcolm and his Struggle against the Universe (Old Fitzroy). She designed the set for a Bollywood production of Twelth Night (Bondi Pavilion), The Frail Man (Darlinghurst Theatre) and costumes for King Lear (Harlos Production/ Bondi Pavilion, directed by Michael Pigott).

COSTUME MAKER - KATRIN BRAUNAGEL

Katrin Braunagel trained as a tailor and dressmaker back in Germany and worked as a costume maker in Hamburg before coming to Australia in 2000. Having planned to travel for 3 months, 7 years later she’s still here. Based in Sydney, she has done freelance costume work for: The Opera Company, Asian Games ceremonies and various musical and theatre productions.

COMPOSER AND MUSICAL DIRECTOR - PATRICK NELLESTEIN

Patrick Nellestein is a Sydney-based composer and musician who has been very active in a diverse range of creative projects. To date he has composed for 8 films, has had pieces professionally performed at public gatherings, as well as written for singers and performers.

Patrick also has skills in studio recording which has also led him to many producing roles.

Accolades include winning 'The Sound Devises Composition Prize' for Piano in 2006 and 'Best Film Score' for short film Kevin from The Sydney Film School, also in 2006.

Patrick is currently completing a Bachelor of Composition at the Australian Institute of Music.

CHOREOGRAPHER - STEPHEN COLYER

Stephen is a graduate of the NIDA directors program, the Australian Ballet School and the Victorian College of the Arts. He has danced with the Australian Ballet, The Royal ballet of Flanders and Feld Ballets New York. He appears in the films Scooby Doo and Moulin Rouge and performed extensively in musical theatre in Australia and abroad.

He was resident director/choreographer on the Sam Mendes production of Cabaret, The Full Monty and Dirty Dancing. He assisted Richard Roxburgh on Twelth Night at Belvoir and directed Fit to be Tied and Boston Marriage at Darlinghurst Theatre.

DRAMATURG ­ NOEL HODDA

Noel’s writing includes the plays The Secret House; Half Safe; Photographs; On The Public Record and Never a Moment’s Peace and for television episodes of the acclaimed ABC medical drama GP. His play Later (now known as Across The Water) represented Australia at the prestigious Banff playRites Colony in Canada where it received universal praise from the selection committee. He is an assessor for Page to Stage, a young playwright’s program, for which he also conducts playwriting and dramaturgy workshops and he has been a script assessor for the ANPC; The Australia Council For The Arts; Belvoir Street Theatre and The Griffin Theatre Company. He has also written numerous corporate and training videos for Optus Communications, State Rail and others. Most recently he was Dramaturge and Associate Director for Codgers at Riverside Parramatta. His work on that play also contributed to it winning the Rodney Seaborn Playwright’s Award for 2006.

Noel is a graduate of the NIDA Acting Course and as an actor has worked extensively in theatre, film, television and radio over the past thirty years. Theatre includes plays with The Sydney Theatre Company; The Queensland Theatre Company; Griffin, Marian Street, Q and Railway Street Theatre Companies; The Ensemble Theatre; The State Theatre Co. of S.A. and others as well as National and International tours. Multiple television and film appearances include The Bet;All Saints; Farscape; Blue Heelers; Murder Call; Water Rats; Big Sky; Backberner; Heartbreak High; McFeast; Bodyline; 1915; Cyclone Tracey and numerous others.